PHP Authoring for Web Development

[kwirl]

I have been fiddling with php and I was wondering where the best online or offline tutorial resources are found. I'm really not that interested in the programming/scripting aspect of php, I'm just interested in writing web sites that use certain php features/scripts from time to time.

Most of what I do on the web is html, I still haven't migrated to using css, so I'm just trying to refresh my skillset. I checked the php.net and w3c tutorials, but they focused way too much on the scripting aspect of php. Like I said, original scriptwriting on my part will be nonexistent, I just want to know enough to properly implement pre-written scripts on an apache server.

Thanks and shit.

kwirlkarphys@gmail.com

[Wobb]

Well, PHP is scripting. What are you trying to do? If you can give specific examples I'm sure people can help or point you to better resources.

I googled "PHP for beginners", and there isn't really anything. The pages you visited are good places to learn php.

Of course if you get into it, I recommend picking up the O'Reilly book. Once you get PHP under your belt, and if you decide to continue in web development, you will really want to enhance your DHTML skills. DHTML encompasses CSS, Javascript and the DOM. Because while PHP can make things more dynamic, it's still just spitting out HTML/XML in the end, to achieve true dynamics, you need these other tools.

Good luck!

Wobb

[Shevarash]

Tips for implementing somebody else's php script:

1) Install php on your server.
2) Place the .php file in your web directory.

There ain't much more you can do with it you're not willing to learn the language.

[kwirl]

i suppose i just dont want to invest the time in learning the language, i have things to do and sitting around mastering another language isn't high on my priority list, i was just hoping there would be a simple method of integrating basic php into my html web sites.

thanks for the feedback, i'll look around some more.

one follow up, however, is there some predecessor language i *should* learn in order to more easily adapt php? i'm comfortable programming with a couple of languages already, so most of what i read was familiar, and only the libraries/declarations/etc posed an immediate distinction. thanks again for the response.

[Shevarash]

Well, the basics aren't hard to learn...its just a scripting language after all, its not Java or anything. :)

If you want to integrate a little php into your own pages you will at least have to learn the syntax and other basics. If you're familiar with other scripting or higher level languages it shouldn't pose much difficulty at all for you.

PHP is probably the simplest way to quickly start adding dynamic content to your web pages, though I personally prefer JSP, as I'm more comfortable in a robust higher level language than a scripting environment.

Good luck with however you decide to go. :)

[kwirl]

so i can create my pages entirely in html, using a front end *frontpage obviously* then i can tweak the html/dhtml tags in notepad, and then i can add php scripts via the same method? thats all i really wanted to do if it works that easy :) thanks!


is there an interface for viewing php pages/content offline without installing a local server?